Country of citizenship: United States
Residence:
Silicon Valley,
CA,
United States
Industry: Software
Marital Status: married
, 2 children
University of Illinois, Drop Out

Chicago native cofounded database software firm Oracle in 1977 and took it public in 1986, one day before Microsoft; nipping at rival's heels ever since. Touts Darwinian view of software industry, decreeing that all but the largest players are doomed. Just as competitive on the high seas: Ellisonís a tenacious competitor in the America's Cup and his BMW Oracle Racing team looks to be in fighting trim leading up to the 2007 race. A visionary very attached to his own vision of things, he gave exclusive access to a biographer in exchange for being allowed to pepper the book with footnotes giving his own version of events. Latest footnote: adding PeopleSoft to Oracle's arsenal.

Distribution of Billionaires by Country
Diameter of disc reflects size of fortune. The red disc indicates Lawrence Ellison.

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